Golf stroke instruction device



A ril 19, 1955 w. s. THOMAS 2,706,535

cow STROKE INSTRUCTION DEVICE Filed Sept. 17, 1953 I NVENT OR ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent GOLF STROKE INSTRUCTION DEVICE William StephensonThomas, Roanoke, Va. Application September 17, 1953, Serial No. 380,701

4 Claims. (Cl. 27 3192) This invention relates to instruction devices,and more particularly to devices of this nature to assist a golfer inlearning the proper club stroke for putting, and is acontinuation-in-part of application Serial No. 208,558, filed January30, 1951, now abandoned.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device which willinclude a golf club, or provide means for attaching a club, which willpermit only a predetermined movement of the club in exact accordancewith the proper putting stroke, so that the user by moving the club willlearn the precise wrist movement necessary to make a true or straightputt.

Another object is to provide a putting instruction device which mountsthe club so that the club head will follow a straight line path over theground, and which permits the hands of the user to be positioned onopposite sides of the axis of club swing so that the pivot will beintermediate the hands in proper position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is extremely simple to manufacture and use, and can bemanufactured quite economically.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of a practical embodiment thereof when taken in conjunctionwith the drawings which accompany, and form a part of, thisspecification.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a golf putting instruction deviceincorporating the principles of the present invention, and showing indotted lines a portion of a figure in proper position for using thedevlce; and,

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the upper portion of the device,and is taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the invention broadly includes asupporting structure for mounting a golf club for pendulumlike swingingmovement so that the club head moves in a single plane in exactduplication of a proper putting stroke.

The support includes a frame 1 which lies horizontally and is supportedupon legs 2 and 3. The frame may be of any desired shape, such astriangular, oval, etc., the important feature being that the frame is acontinuous, closed one bordering, or surrounding, an open area. Thetriangular form shown may be formed of three side sections securedtogether at their ends in any desired manner. The legs 2 and 3 arearranged so that one leg is attached to each corner of the triangularframe and each leg is inclined from the vertical. If one corner of thetriangular frame is considered the apex of the triangle, the leg 2 whichis attached to that corner is positioned to lie in the vertical plane ofthe perpendicular bisector of the triangle. The legs 3 which areattached to the base corners of the triangle are positioned to lie inthe vertical planes of the respective sides of the triangle. Thus, therear leg 2, the one at the apex, may be straddled by the user, and thefront legs 3 will be entirely out of the path of the movement of theclub, as will be explained later.

An axis, or pivot pin, 4 is mounted in the frame so as to bisect theapex angle, and is connected to the triangular frame at the apex angleand at the mid-point of the base. This will place the pivot pin and therear leg of the support in a common vertical plane. The pin isjournalled in the frame, at 5 and 6, so as to be freely rotatable.

At approximately the center of the triangular frame,

2,706,635 Patented Apr. 19, 1955 the pivot pin carries means for holdinga golf club 7. The club will be of that type known as a putter, and theclub itself may be fixedly connected to the pivot pin. There isillustrated, however, a sleeve-type gripping member 8 for holding theclub. This may be a two-part sleeve that may be clamped about the clubshaft to hold the club in fixed relation with respect to the pivot pin.By employing such a gripping member, each user of the device will beable to use his own putter and thus not only get the feel of the properstroke, but the feel of that stroke with his club.

In order to properly position the club for the stroke, the grippingmeans is inclined approximately 16 from the vertical. In other Words,the axis of the gripping member makes an angle of approximately 16 withthe perpendicular to the axis of the pivot pin. Thus, when the club isin place, the shaft will be inclined with the grip end of the shaft tothe rear of the center of the triangular frame, that is toward the apexangle, and the club head to the front of the center toward the trianglease.

In using the device, a club will be placed in the gripping sleeve andpositioned so that the club head just contacts the ground when the clubhead is in its down position directly beneath the pivot pin. With theclub in this position the club will have a free pendulum swing, and theclub head will follow an arc in a vertical plane, but its movement overthe ground will be in an absolutely straight line. Thus, the club headwill impart a straight line impact upon the ball. As the club head ispositioned perpendicularly to its path of movement, the ball willinvariably follow a straight line.

The user will position himself behind the device, straddling the rearleg and a portion of the adjacent apex portion of the frame, which willplace his body in the proper position with respect to the club. He willbe directly behind and perpendicular to the pivot upon which the clubswings. 1n gripping the club, assuming the user is right-handed, theleft hand will be placed upon the club grip directly above the pivot pinand the right hand will pass through the opening between the pivot pinand frame side to grasp the club just beneath the pivot pin. Thus thehands will be on opposite sides of the pivot and will move in oppositedirections when the club is swung. On the back stroke, the right handwill be behind the ball position. This is in accordance with theaccepted theory of a proper putting stroke. By moving the club throughits swing, the wrists and muscles of the user must necessarily followthe proper movements of a correct putting stroke. Frequent use of thedevice will result in the user becoming so familiar with the correctputting movements that the proper stroke may be used even without theinstruction device. The inclination of the legs of the device and theirpositioning as above described will leave the entire center portion freeof obstruction and permit unimpeded swinging of the club. The open framewill have ample space on either side of the pivot to permit the entry ofthe hand and wrist of the user, whether he is right or left-handed.

Although one practical embodiment of the invention has been describedand shown, this is by way of example only, and it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that various changes may be made from theprecise structure disclosed without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a golf stroke instruction device, means to form a continuousclosed horizontally positioned frame bordering an opening, legs tosupport said frame, a pivot pin traversing said opening and having itsends pivotally mounted in said frame, and golf club supporting meanscarried by said pivot pin so positioned as to support a golf club withthe axis of the golf club shaft intersecting the axis of the pivot pin,said pivot pin being positioned at such height above the surface uponwhich said legs rest as to position said pivot pin between thoseportions of the golf club handle normally gripped by a player.

2. In a golf stroke instruction device as claimed in claim 1, one ofsaid legs being positioned in the vertical plane of the longitudinalaxis of said pivot pin to serve as a guide to position the user withrespect to said device.

3. In a golf stroke instruction device, means to form a continuousclosed horizontally positioned frame bordering an opening, legs tosupport said frame, a pivot pin traversing said opening medially andhaving its ends pivotally mounted in said frame, and golf clubsupporting means carried by said pivot pin for supporting a golf club atan angle to the perpendicular with respect to the longitudinal axis ofthe pivot pin and with the longitudinal axes of the golf club shaft andthe pivot pin lying in a single plane, whereby the golf club may begripped with the pivot pin between the hands of the user and the golfclub head will move in a path the projection of which upon a horizontalplane will form a straight line.

4. In a golf stroke instruction device as claimed in claim 3, one ofsaid legs being positioned in the vertical plane of the longitudinalaxis of said pivot pin to serve as a guide to position the user withrespect to the device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS168,323 Crandall Oct. 5, 1875 1,391,306 Elliaser Sept. 20, 19211,651,657 Young Dec. 6, 1927 2,317,289 McDonald Apr. 20, 1943 2,336,894Shannon Dec. 14, 1943

